Hedge Parker was born the third child, with ten sisters, to Linda and Oscar Parker of Sidney, Nebraska. As the only son in the family, Hedge took it upon himself to become his sisters’ protector. This led to a constant series of fights throughout his school years. Hedge became known in his small town as a trouble-maker, and by the time he entered high school, he was a perfect candidate for military school. Hedge straightened himself out, and upon graduation, enlisted in the US Army.

His broad skillset and above-average IQ caught the eyes of nearly every national intelligence agency for recruitment. Hedge joined InDIGO at the age of 24, becoming one of the youngest field operatives in the organization’s history.

With his partner, Eleanor McKinnon, Hedge developed an idea for a nearly undetectable surveillance suit, to be beta-tested by Agent McKinnon. After getting the green light for official development, the pair find themselves in Mexico City when their mission goes sideways. Agent McKinnon was critically hurt and taken out of the field. Hedge continued his field operations, refusing to take on another partner.

After a few years as a solo agent, consulting on the LBD project, Hedge agrees to take on a team when the dress becomes officially activated.

Evan Tyler was born an only child to Gordon and Maggie Tyler in West Texas on one of the several Army bases where her father was stationed. Her natural red hair, teal blue eyes, and tall slender figure got her noticed by her high school drama teacher, who sent her to a modeling agent. Evan took advantage of the opportunity and began modeling haute couture all over the world.

On one modeling assignment in Europe, Evan found herself in a desperate situation that had her running for her life. That led her to the US Embassy in Milan, where she met Rowan Kirk, an agent for InDIGO, the International Discretionary Intelligence Gathering Organization. Evan not only helped Kirk stop a madman but she found her calling in international espionage. Kirk became her partner in fieldwork and Evan decided to have a permanent receiver implanted in her ear canal, which allowed her and Kirk to communicate without a tell-tale earbud.

After a couple of years working with Rowan (Red) Kirk as her partner, Evan received a request from InDIGO to be fitted for an experimental field suit, outfitted with high-tech surveillance devices and state of the art body armor. After her fitting, months passed before Evan heard anything more about the suit, and she had given up hope of it ever being produced.

Kirk and Evan are suddenly called to Paris to follow a lead on a fashion designer, Anton Hrevic, where Evan is surprised to find that she will be field-testing the suit for the first time. And even more of a surprise, she discovers the top-secret suit is actually the perfect Little Black Dress.

From my first meeting with my local writers’ group, I’ve heard consistently that your book has to hook your reader from the first line. And if that’s not pressure enough, your last line needs to make them beg for the next book. Make your reader scream, “NOOOOOO!” when they read THE END.

All of this is much easier said than done. My upcoming novel, Little Black Dress, has a pretty good hook at both the beginning and end. These lines didn’t happen by accident. The words didn’t appear magically on the page. No muse, fairies, or pixie dust involved. These sentences developed and came to life only after hours of brainstorming, trial and error, and careful crafting. These sentences set the mood. They inform the reader about when and where the story begins. They tell you who the story is about, as well as a little something of their character. I worked my butt off getting my first line just right.

“She had never been one for bars or nightclubs,

but how else was a good girl like Evan Tyler

going to find a bad boy in Paris?”

Now that I have the first book finished and awaiting publication (I’ll share my pre-order links very soon.), it’s on to the sequel, Red Heels. Chapter One, line one. And the pressure begins. Again.

I have had the rough draft of this manuscript finished for a while now. I even have the RD for the third book mostly finished. What I lack on Red Heels are the beginning and the end hooks. I have agonized over these lines. These paragraphs haunt me day and night. Twice this week I’ve awoken from a dead sleep and thought, AHA! And the next morning these ideas were relegated to file 13. But this morning…

Early this morning I woke to a charley-horse in my left calf that nearly had me in tears. It took several minutes to get the muscles in my leg to relax. Once I finally returned to bed, my mind was in gear. I suddenly knew what I wanted to say and how to say it. This first paragraph has it all. Who, what, when, where, and why. It even contains a little weather and some humor. Both things I enjoy in a book. Is it perfect? No, but I like it, and I think you will, too.

Please check back soon for pre-order links, and character studies. Little Black Dress comes off the rack March 8, 2018! #LittleBlackDressNovel

I will also have some fun #giveaways and #games for all my readers, too. Please share this post and let me hear from you! XOX

Infiltrating the Paris couture scene, Tyler and her team level their sights on Anton Hrevic, a rising star designer who, along with his muse-models, seems intent on espionage and world manipulation. Wearing the high-tech and top secret Little Black Dress, Tyler uses both her God-given and government-granted assets to learn the truth behind Hrevic’s celebrity parties and uncover secrets that could unravel the global economy.

Little Black Dress would appeal to anyone who enjoys the pluck and style of Audrey Hepburn with a James Bond twist.

Infiltrating the Paris couture scene, Tyler and her team level their sights on Anton Hrevic, a rising star designer who, along with his muse-models, seems intent on espionage and world manipulation. Wearing the high-tech and top secret Little Black Dress, Tyler uses both her God-given and government-granted assets to learn the truth behind Hrevic’s celebrity parties and uncover secrets that could unravel the global economy.

Little Black Dress would appeal to anyone who enjoys the pluck and style of Audrey Hepburn with a James Bond twist.